The invention relates to refrigerated display cases for retail applications and, more particularly, to open-front, roll-in refrigerated display cases.
Open-front refrigerated display cases typically require food product to be manually loaded onto the shelves within the case. Food products are delivered to the display case on movable carts and manually loaded onto the shelves of the case from the front side of the case. In an effort to reduce handling costs, it is beneficial to have an open-front, roll-in refrigerated display case that readily accepts movable carts that can be rolled into the display case.
Existing roll-in case designs exist in both front and rear loading configurations where carts are rolled into the refrigerated envelope at floor level from the front or back, respectively. The cart is then positioned adjacent the open-front so that consumers may remove product directly from the shelves on the cart.
Roll-in designs present challenges at the return air section of the case. Open-front refrigerated display cases require a means of air return, which is typically located along the lower section of the open face. Some roll-in return air designs include separate and distinct rectangular ducts that extend from the rear of the case out to the front of the cart. The ducts fit under the carts and between the respective rollers or wheels of the carts. The problem with this design is that the duct size and duct locations dictate specific cart sizes to be used with the case.
Another practice used by open-front, roll-in cases has been to locate the return air flue below ground level. The problem with this design is the added cost of installation needed to modify the floor below the refrigerated case.
Other front roll-in designs use removable lower front wall sections that assist to direct the return air under the cart through the passage created between the cart base and the floor surface.
Another design concept widely used in retail stores is a case that accepts movable carts loaded from the rear of the case. In this design, the case must be positioned adjacent to an opening within a storage cooler. This design takes cooled air from the cooler and cools it further before discharging it into the refrigerated envelope. Typically, a return air fan assembly is located at the bottom of the open face and returns the air back to the cooler. The opening at the rear of the case is sectioned from the storage cooler by a movable curtain. The problem with this design is that it requires a storage cooler adjacent to the case.